Method and system for a utilizing a proxy service to generate a composed information handling system

ABSTRACT

In general, the invention relates to providing computer implemented services using information handling systems. One or more embodiments of the invention includes identifying a hardware resource requirement in a composition request for a composed information handling system, wherein the hardware resource requirement specifies a hardware resource with data transformation functionality (DTF), identifying a hardware resource that does not have the DTF, connecting the hardware resource to a DTF container, wherein the DTF container implements the DTF and emulates the hardware resource with DTF, and initiating composition of the composed information handling system using the DTF container, wherein the DTF container satisfies the hardware resource requirement.

BACKGROUND

Computing devices may provide services. To provide the services, thecomputing devices may include hardware components and softwarecomponents. The services provided by the computing devices may belimited by these components.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Certain embodiments of the invention will be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings illustrateonly certain aspects or implementations of the invention by way ofexample and are not meant to limit the scope of the claims.

FIG. 1.1 shows a diagram of a system in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention.

FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an information handling system in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a diagram of hardware resources in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a system control processor manager inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method of instantiating a composedinformation handling system based on a composition request in accordancewith one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method of instantiating a datatransformation functionality (DTF) container to satisfy a compositionrequest in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 5.3 shows a flowchart of a method of setting up management servicesin accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows an example in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying figures. In the following detaileddescription of the embodiments of the invention, numerous specificdetails are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understandingof the invention. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known features have not been describedin detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the description.

In the following description of the figures, any component describedwith regard to a figure, in various embodiments of the invention, may beequivalent to one or more like-named components described with regard toany other figure. For brevity, descriptions of these components will notbe repeated with regard to each figure. Thus, each and every embodimentof the components of each figure is incorporated by reference andassumed to be optionally present within every other figure having one ormore like-named components. Additionally, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention, any description of the components of afigure is to be interpreted as an optional embodiment, which may beimplemented in addition to, in conjunction with, or in place of theembodiments described with regard to a corresponding like-namedcomponent in any other figure.

Throughout this application, elements of figures may be labeled as A toN. As used herein, the aforementioned labeling means that the elementmay include any number of items and does not require that the elementinclude the same number of elements as any other item labeled as A to N.For example, a data structure may include a first element labeled as Aand a second element labeled as N. This labeling convention means thatthe data structure may include any number of the elements. A second datastructure, also labeled as A to N, may also include any number ofelements. The number of elements of the first data structure and thenumber of elements of the second data structure may be the same ordifferent.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to systems, devices, andmethods for providing computer implemented services. To provide computerimplemented services, resources may need to be allocated for theperformance of the services. The resources may include, for example,compute resources, control resources, and hardware resources.

To allocate the resources, composed information handling systems may beinstantiated. A composed information handling system may be a device(the components of which may be distributed across one or moreinformation handling systems) that has exclusive use over a quantity ofresources. Resources from multiple information handling systems may beallocated to a composed information handling system thereby enabling acomposed information handling system to utilize resources from anynumber of information handling systems for performance of correspondingcomputer implemented services.

In certain scenarios, the pool of resources from which a composedinformation handling system may be created, do not include the resourcesin the composition request. For example, the composition request mayspecify a storage device that is self-encrypting. However, there are nosuch storage devices available in the pool of resources. In one or moreembodiments of the invention, a container with the data transformationfunctionality (DTF) (e.g., encryption) (also referred to as a DTFcontainer) may be instantiated. The combination of the storage device,which does not include the DTF (also referred to as a non-DTF storagedevice), and the DTF container, may then be used to satisfy thecomposition request that requires a storage unit that isself-encrypting.

From the perspective of the other resources in the composed informationhandling system the DTF container appears as the required storage unitthat is self-encrypting; however, the DTF container only emulates such aresource. Said another way, the other resources in the composedinformation handling system interact with (e.g., send read and writerequests) to the DTF container as if it is a storage unit that isself-encrypting. Upon receipt of such write requests, the DTF containerperforms the data transformation (e.g., encrypts the data), and thenprovides the resulting encrypted data with the non-DTF storage devicefor storage. Further, upon receipt of such read requests, the DTFcontainer requests the corresponding encrypted data from the non-DTFstorage device, performs the data transformation (e.g., decrypts theencrypted data), and then provides the resulting decrypted data to theentity that issued the read request. The aforementioned example is notintended to limit the scope of the invention.

One or more embodiments of the invention, enable composed informationhandling systems that satisfy composition requests that requireresources with integrated DTF, using a combination of non-DTF resourcesand corresponding DTF containers. Further, the DTF containers may beused in combination to perform any type of data transformation. Forexample, the composition request from a specific resource can performcompression and encryption. In this example, there may be one DTFcontainer that performs compression/decompression, and another DTFcontainer that performs encryption/decryption. In these scenarios, oneof the DTF containers emulates the DTF resource (i.e., the resource willall of the requested DTFs), and one of the DTF containers interfacesdirectly with the non-DTF resource. Further, the DTF containers are thenconnected such that data and/or requests are processed in the correctorder by the appropriate DTF containers.

FIG. 1.1 shows a system in accordance with one or more embodiments ofthe invention. The system may include any number of information handlingsystems (60). The information handling systems (60) may provide computerimplemented services. The computer implemented services may include, forexample, database services, data storage services, electroniccommunications services, data protection services, and/or other types ofservices that may be implemented using information handling systems.

The information handling system of the system of FIG. 1.1 may operateindependently and/or cooperatively to provide the computer implementedservices. For example, a single information handling system (e.g., 62)may provide a computer implemented service on its own (i.e.,independently) while multiple other information handling systems (e.g.,62, 64) may provide a second computer implemented service cooperatively(e.g., each of the multiple other information handling systems mayprovide similar and or different services that form the cooperativelyprovided service).

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystems (60) may utilize resources provided by hardware resources. Theresources may include, for example, processing resources, storageresources, memory resources, graphics processing resources,communications resources, and/or other types of resources provided bythe hardware resources. Various hardware resources may provide theseresources.

The type and quantity of resources required to provide computerimplemented services may vary depending on the type and quantity ofcomputer implemented services to be provided. For example, some types ofcomputer implemented services may be more compute intensive (e.g.,modeling) while other computer implemented services may be more storageintensive (e.g., database) thereby having different computing resourcerequirements for these different services. Consequently, resources maybe used inefficiently if the quantity of resources are over-allocatedfor the computer implemented services. Similarly, the quality of theprovided computer implemented services may be poor or otherwiseundesirable if resources are under-allocated for the computerimplemented services.

Clients (40) may request that the computer implemented services beprovided. For example, the clients (40) may send requests to managemententities to have the computer implemented services be provided.

In general, embodiments of the invention relate to system, methods, anddevices for managing the hardware resources of the information handlingsystems (60) and/or other resources (e.g., external resources (30)) toprovide computer implemented services. The hardware resources of theinformation handling systems (60) may be managed by instantiating one ormore composed information handling systems using the hardware resourcesof the information handling systems (60), external resources (30),and/or other types of hardware resources operably connected to theinformation handling systems (60). Consequently, the resources allocatedto a composed information handling system may be tailored to thespecific needs of the services that will be provided by the composedinformation handling system.

Overtime, the quantity of resources necessary to provide the computerimplemented services may change. In such scenarios, the resourceallocations for providing the services may be modified. For example,additional resources may be added to existing composed informationhandling systems (e.g., when over-loaded), resources may be removed fromexisting composed information handling systems (e.g., whenunder-loaded), and/or new composed information handling systems may beinstantiated so that some of the existing workloads hosted by composedinformation handling systems can be transferred to the new composedinformation handling systems. By doing so, embodiments of the inventionmay improve the likelihood that computer implemented services areprovided in a manner that meets the expectations of the clients (40).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system includes asystem control processor manager (50). The system control processormanager (50) may provide composed information handling systemcomposition services. Composed information handling system compositionservices may include (i) obtaining composition requests for composedinformation handling systems from, for example, the clients (40), (ii)aggregating resources from the information handling systems (60) and/orexternal resources (30) using system control processors to service thecomposition requests by instantiating composed information handlingsystems in accordance with the requests, and (iii) modifying existingresource allocations (including, via, servicing decomposition requests)for composed information handling systems. By doing so, instantiatedcomposed information handling systems may provide computer implementedservices in accordance with the expectations of the clients.

To determine the utilization of the resources of the informationhandling systems (60), performance of workloads, or other indicatorsregarding the quality of computer implemented services provided bycomposed information handling systems, the system control processormanager (50) may instruct system control processors of the composedinformation handling systems to monitor the use of hardware resources bythe clients (40). This information may be used, for example, toascertain whether additional or fewer resources should be allocated tothe composed information handling systems, to identify whether newcomposed information handling systems should be instantiated, todetermine whether any of the resources are in a compromised state,and/or for other purposes.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor manager (50) instantiates composed information handlingsystems in accordance with a three resource set model. As will bediscussed in greater detail below, the resources of an informationhandling system may be divided into three logical resource sets: acompute resource set, a control resource set, and a hardware resourceset. Different resource sets, or portions thereof, from the same ordifferent information handling systems may be aggregated (e.g., causedto operate as a computing device) to instantiate a composed informationhandling system having at least one resource set from each set of thethree resource set model.

By logically dividing the resources of an information handling systeminto these resource sets, different quantities and types of resourcesmay be allocated to each composed information handling system therebyenabling the resources allocated to the respective information handlingsystem to match performed workloads. Further, dividing the resources inaccordance with the three set model may enable different resource setsto be differentiated (e.g., given different personalities) to providedifferent functionalities. Consequently, composed information handlingsystems may be composed on the basis of desired functionalities ratherthan just on the basis of aggregate resources to be included in thecomposed information handling system.

Additionally, by composing composed information handling systems in thismanner, the control resource set of each composed information handlingsystem may be used to consistently deploy management services across anynumber of composed information handling systems. Consequently,embodiments of the invention may provide a framework for unifiedsecurity, manageability, resource management/composability, workloadmanagement, and distributed system management by use of this threeresource set model. For example, utilization monitors may be deployed incontrol resource sets to monitor the use of the other resource sets.Accordingly, use of these resources for providing computer implementedservices requested by the clients (40) may be uniformly monitored acrossthe information handling systems (60). For additional details regardingthe system control processor manager (50), refer to FIG. 4 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a composed informationhandling system is a device that is formed using all, or a portion, ofthe resources of the information handling systems (60), the externalresources (30), and/or other types of hardware resources operablyconnected to the information handling systems (60). The composedinformation handling system may utilize the resources allocated to it toprovide computer implemented services. For example, the composedinformation handling system may host one or more applications thatutilize the resources assigned to the composed information handlingsystem. The applications may provide the computer implemented services.Thus, the quality of the computer implemented services may be limitedbased on the allocation of resources to the composed informationhandling systems.

To instantiate composed information handling systems, the informationhandling systems (60) may include at least three resource sets includinga control resource set. The control resource set may include a systemcontrol processor. The system control processor of each informationhandling system may coordinate with the system control processor manager(50) to enable composed information handling systems to be instantiated.For example, the system control processor of an information handlingsystem may provide telemetry data regarding the resources of aninformation handling system, may perform actions on behalf of the systemcontrol processor manager (50) to aggregate resources together, maymonitor the utilization of resources for providing computer implementedservices requested by the clients (40), and/or may provide services thatunify the operation of composed information handling systems.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems are presented with bare metalresources by control resource sets even when the presented resources areactually being managed using one or more layers of abstraction,emulation, virtualization, security model, etc. For example, the systemcontrol processors of the control resource sets may provide theabstraction, emulation, virtualization, and/or other services whilepresenting the resources as bare metal resources. Consequently, theseservices may be transparent to applications hosted by the computeresource sets of composed information handling systems thereby enablinguniform deployment of such services without requiring implementation ofcontrol plane entities hosted by the compute resource sets of thecomposed information handling systems. Accordingly, by utilizing systemcontrol processors to monitor the use of the resources of a composedinformation handling system, applications or other entities hosted bythe composed information handling system may not be able to view, beaware, impact, or otherwise influence the collection of computingresource use data. Accordingly, relevant information that may be used todecide how to allocate resources may be obtain in a manner that istransparent to the composed information handling systems. For additionaldetails regarding the information handling systems (60), refer to FIG.1.2 .

The external resources (30) may provide resources that may be allocatedfor use by composed information handling systems. For example, theexternal resources (30) may include hardware resources that provide anynumber and type of resources. The composed information handling systemmay use these resources to provide their functionalities. For example,system control processors may operably connect to and manage theexternal resources (30) to provide additional and/or different resourcesfrom those available to be provided only using hardware resource sets ofinformation handling systems. By utilizing system control processors tomanage these resources, the use of these external resources (30) forproviding services requested by the clients (40) may also be efficientlyand transparently monitored.

Different external resources (e.g., 32, 34) may provide similar ordifferent resources. For example, some external resources may includelarge numbers of hard disk drives to provide storage resources whileother may include graphics processing unit rendering farms. The externalresources (30) may include any number and type of resources forallocation to composed information handling systems via system controlprocessors of control resource sets.

The system of FIG. 1.1 may include any number of information handlingsystems (e.g., 62, 64), any number of external resources (e.g., 32, 34),and any number of system control processor managers (e.g., 50). Any ofthe components of FIG. 1.1 may be operably connected to any othercomponent and/or other components not illustrated in FIG. 1.1 via one ormore networks (e.g., 130). The networks may be implemented using anycombination of wired and/or wireless network topologies.

The clients (40), system control processor manager (50), informationhandling systems (60), and/or external resources (30) may be implementedusing computing devices. The computing devices may include, for example,a server, laptop computer, a desktop computer, a node of a distributedsystem, etc. The computing device may include one or more processors,memory (e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g.,disk drives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor manager (50),information handling systems (60), and/or external resources (30)described in this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methodsillustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.3 . The clients (40), system controlprocessor manager (50), information handling systems (60), and/orexternal resources (30) may be implemented using other types ofcomputing devices without departing from the invention. For additionaldetails regarding computing devices, refer to FIG. 7 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, one or more IHSs (60) orone or more composed IHSs may be functioning as a proxy server. Theproxy server includes functionality to: (i) instantiate one or more DTFcontainers, (ii) receive and service requests from other DTF containers,and/or other resources in one or more composed information handlingsystems to perform DTF, and then provide the results of performing theDTF to the appropriate resource or DTF container.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, if the DTF container isinterfaced with other components of the composed information handlingsystem, then it may be emulating a DTF resource and furthermore, it maybe interfacing (e.g., via an API, and/or one or more system controlprocessors) with the non-DTF resource. In scenarios in which the DTFcontainer is one of a set of DTF containers in a chain of DTF containersthat are providing more complex DTFs, e.g., a combination of compressionand encryption, then such DTF containers may also interface (e.g., viaan API and/or one or more system control processors) with other DTFcontainers.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a DTF container is softwareexecuting on a proxy server. The DTF container may be an independentsoftware instance that executes within a larger container managementsoftware instance (e.g., Docker®, Kubernetes®). In embodiments in whichthe DTF container is executing as an isolated software instance, the DTFcontainer may establish a semi-isolated virtual environment, inside thecontainer, in which to execute one or more applications.

In one embodiment of the invention, a DTF container may be executing in“user space” (e.g., a layer of the software that utilizes low-levelsystem components for the execution of applications) of the operatingsystem of the proxy server.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, a DTF container includesone or more applications. An application is software executing withinthe application container, that may include instructions which, whenexecuted by a processor(s) (not shown) to: (i) emulate a DTF-resource;(ii) perform one or more data transformations to modify all or a portionof the data that is received by the DTF container; and/or (iii) providethe transformed data to the appropriate entity (e.g., another DTFcontainer, a resource in the composed information handling system or anon-DTF resource).

In one embodiment of the invention, a data transformation is anyfunction, or functions, that are applied (serially or in parallel) tomodify at least a portion of data. Non-limiting examples of datatransformations are encryption, decryption, compression, decompression,pre-pending data and appending data to the data.

While the system of FIG. 1.1 has been illustrated and described asincluding a limited number of specific components, a system inaccordance with embodiments of the invention may include additional,fewer, and/or different components without departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 1.2 , FIG. 1.2 shows a diagram of an informationhandling system (100) in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention. Any of the information handling systems (e.g., 60) of FIG.1.1 may be similar to the information handling system (100) illustratedin FIG. 1.2 .

As discussed above, the information handling system (100) may provideany quantity and type of computer implemented services. To provide thecomputer implemented services, resources of the information handlingsystem may be used to instantiate one or more composed informationhandling systems. The composed information handling systems may providethe computer implemented services.

To provide computer implemented services, the information handlingsystem (100) may include any number and type of hardware resources (alsoreferred to as resources) including, for example, one or more processors(106), any quantity and type of processor dedicated memory (104), one ormore system control processors (114), and any number of hardwareresources (118). These hardware resources may be logically divided intothree resource sets including a compute resource set (102), a controlresource set (108), and a hardware resource set (110).

The control resource set (108) of the information handling system (100)may facilitate formation of composed information handling systems. To doso, the control resource set (108) may prepare any quantity of resourcesfrom any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110) (e.g., of theinformation handling system (100) and/or other information handlingsystems) for presentation to processing resources of any number ofcomputing resource sets (e.g., 102) (e.g., of the information handlingsystem (100) and/or other information handling systems). Once prepared,the control resource set (108) may present the prepared resources asbare metal resources to the processors (e.g., 106) of the allocatedresources. By doing so, a composed information handling system may beinstantiated.

To prepare the resources of the hardware resource sets for presentation,the control resource set (108) may employ, for example, virtualization,indirection, abstraction, and/or emulation. These managementfunctionalities may be transparent to applications hosted by theresulting instantiated composed information handling systems.Consequently, while unknown to the control plane entities of thecomposed information handling system, the composed information handlingsystem may operate in accordance with any number of management modelsthereby providing for unified control and management of composedinformation handling systems. These functionalities may be transparentto applications hosted by composed information handling systems therebyrelieving them from overhead associated with these functionalities.

For example, consider a scenario where a control resource set isinstructed to instantiate a composed information handling systemincluding a compute resource set and a hardware resource set that willcontribute storage resources to the compute resource set. The controlresource set may virtualize the storage resources of the hardwareresource set to enable a select quantity of the storage resources to beallocated to the composed information handling system while reservingsome of the storage resources for allocation to other composedinformation handling systems. However, the prepared storage resourcesmay be presented to the compute resource set as bare metal resources.Consequently, the compute resource set may not need to host any controlplane entities or otherwise incur overhead for utilizing the virtualizedstorage resources (e.g., the compute resource set may send bare metalcommunications to the control resource set, the control resource set maytranslate those bare metal communications into prepared resourcecompatible communications, and the control resource set may send theprepared resource compatible communications to the hardware resourceset).

The control resource set (108) may also enable the utilization of any ofthe hardware components of the information handling system (100) byrespective clients. When a composed information handling system isinstantiated, it (and its hardware resources) may be utilized by aclient by enabling the client to load application onto the composedinformation handling system. For example, the client may cause thecomposed information handling system to execute applications on thecompute resource set (102) which, in turn, may utilize any number ofhardware resource sets (e.g., 110) as part of their execution.

Because the control resource set (108) may mediate utilization ofhardware resource sets (110) by compute resource sets (102), the controlresource set (108) may transparently ascertain the use of the hardwareresources of these resource sets, workloads being performed, and/orother information indicative of load states of the composed informationhandling systems (and/or quality of computer implemented services beingprovided by the composed information handling systems). To do so, thecontrol resource set (108) may intercept (as part of presentingresources of hardware resource sets to compute resource sets)communications between resource sets, monitor workloads being performedby each of the respective resource sets, monitor power utilization bythese resource sets, and/or may perform other actions to identify theuse of these hardware resources by respective clients.

The collected use information may be used, for example, to ascertainwhether additional resources should be added to composed informationhandling systems, to ascertain whether resources should be removed fromcomposed information handling systems, to notify clients of their use ofthese resources (e.g., if the clients are being billed for use as partof a pay for use infrastructure deployment), to obtain informationuseable to estimate future computing resource requirements for hostingvarious applications and/or performing various types of workloads,and/or for other purposes.

The compute resource set (102) may include one or more processors (106)operably connected to the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the compute resource set (102) may host any number ofexecuting processes thereby enabling any number and type of workloads tobe performed. When performing the workloads, the compute resource set(102) may utilize resources provided by the hardware resource set (110)of the information handling system (100), hardware resource sets ofother information handling systems, and/or external resources.

The processors (106) of the compute resource set (102) may be operablyconnected to one or more system control processors (114) of the controlresource set (108). For example, the processors (106) may be connectedto a compute resource interface (112), which is also connected to thesystem control processors (114). The compute resource interface (112)may enable the processors (106) to communicate with other entities viabare metal communications. Also, the compute resource interface (112)may enable system control processors (114) of the control resource set(108) to monitor the activity of the processors (106) and/or processordedicated memory (104) to identify use of these hardware resources byclients. For example, the compute resources interface (112) may supportsideband communications to the hardware resources of the computeresource set (102) thereby enabling utilization information for thesehardware resources to be obtained by the system control processors(114).

The system control processors (114) of the control resource set (108)may present resources to the processors (106) as bare metal resources.In other words, from the point of view of the processors (106), anynumber of bare metal resources may be operably connected to it via thecompute resources interface (112) when, in reality, the system controlprocessors (114) are operably connected to the processors (106) via thecompute resources interface (112). In other words, the system controlprocessors (114) may manage presentation of other types of resources(e.g., resources of the hardware resource set (110)), externalresources, other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems, etc.) to the compute resource set (102).

By presenting the resources to the processors as bare metal resources,control plane entities (e.g., applications) such as hypervisors,emulators, and/or other types of management entities may not need to behosted (e.g., executed) by the processors (106) for the processors (106)and entities hosted by them to utilize the resources allocated to acomposed information handling system. Accordingly, all of the processingresources provided by the compute resource set (102) may be dedicated toproviding the computer implemented services.

For example, the processors (106) may utilize mapped memory addresses tocommunicate with the bare metal resources presented by the systemcontrol processors (114) to the processors (106). The system controlprocessors (114) may obtain these communications and appropriately remap(e.g., repackage, redirect, encapsulate, etc.) the communications to theactual hardware resources providing the resources, which the processors(106) are interacting with via the compute resources interface (112)and/or hardware resources interface (116), discussed below.Consequently, indirection, remapping, and/or other functions requiredfor resource virtualization, emulation, abstraction, or other methods ofresource allocation (other than bare metal) and management may not needto be implemented via the processors (106).

By doing so, any number of functions for a composed information handlingsystem may be automatically performed in a manner that is transparent tothe control plane. Accordingly, a composed information handling systemmay operate in a manner consistent with a unified, consistentarchitecture or model (e.g., communications model, data storage model,etc.) by configuring the operation of one or more system controlprocessors in a manner consistent with the architecture or model.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, control plane entitiesutilize resources presented through one or more layers of indirection,abstraction, virtualization, etc. In other words, an indirect use ofhardware resources and resources provided thereby. In the informationhandling system of FIG. 1.2 , the system control processors (114) maypresent abstracted resources, indirection layers, virtualization layers,etc. as bare metal resources,

In one or more embodiments of the invention, data plane entitiesdirectly utilize resources. For example, data plane entities mayinstruct hardware resources on their operation thereby directlyutilizing resources provided thereby. Data plane entities may presentthe resources to control plane entities using one or more layers ofindirection, abstraction, virtualization, etc.

The system control processors (114) may present any number of resourcesoperably connected to it (e.g., the hardware resource set (110)), otherresources operably connected to it via an interface (e.g., hardwareresources interface (116), etc.) as bare metal resources to theprocessors (106) of the compute resource set (102). Consequently, thesystem control processors (114) may implement device discovery processescompatible with the processors (106) to enable the processors (106) toutilize the presented resources.

For example, the hardware resource set (110) may include hardwareresources (118) operably connected to the system control processors(114) via a hardware resources interface (116). The hardware resources(118) may include any number and type of hardware resources that provideresources. For additional details regarding the hardware resources(118), refer to FIG. 2 .

In another example, the system control processors (114) may be operablyconnected to other hardware resource sets of other information handlingsystems via hardware resources interface (116), network (130), and/orother system control processors of the other information handlingsystems. The system control processors may cooperatively enable hardwareresource sets of other information handling systems to be prepared andpresented as bare metal resources to the compute resource set (102).

In an additional example, the system control processors (114) may beoperably connected to external resources via hardware resourcesinterface (116) and network (130). The system control processors (114)may prepare and present the external resources as bare metal resourcesto the compute resource set (102).

The system control processors (114), by presenting resources to thecompute resource set (102), may be able to monitor the utilization ofthe presented resources in a manner that is transparent to theapplications or other entities executing using the processors (106).Consequently, these entities may not be able to interfere withmonitoring of the use of these resources. In contrast, if an agent orother entity for monitoring computing resource use rates is executingusing the processors (106), other entities executing using theprocessors (106) may be able to interfere with the operation of themonitoring entity. Accordingly, embodiments of the invention may providea method of monitoring resources use that is less susceptible tointerference by other entities. By doing so, resource allocationdecisions made based on the collected information may better reflect theactual use of resources by the composed information handling systems.

For additional details regarding the operation and functions of thesystem control processors (114), refer to FIG. 3 .

The compute resources interface (112) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thecompute resources interface (112) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. The computeresources interface (112) may support processor to device connections,processor to memory connections, and/or other types of connections. Thecompute resources interface (112) may be implemented using one or morehardware resources including circuitry adapted to provide thefunctionality of the compute resources interface (112).

The compute resources interface (112) may also support sidebandcommunications between the system control processors (114), theprocessors (106), and/or the processor dedicated memory (104).Consequently, the system control processors (114) may be able to monitorthe operations of these other devices to identify the utilization ofthese hardware resources by clients, identify workloads being performedby these devices, etc.

The hardware resources interface (116) may be implemented using anysuitable interconnection technology including, for example, system busessuch as compute express links or other interconnection protocols. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support any input/output (IO)protocol, any memory protocol, any coherence interface, etc. Thehardware resources interface (116) may support processor to deviceconnections, processor to memory connections, and/or other types ofconnections. The hardware resources interface (116) may be implementedusing one or more hardware resources including circuitry adapted toprovide the functionality of the hardware resources interface (116).

In some embodiments of the invention, the compute resource set (102),control resource set (108), and/or hardware resource set (110) may beimplemented as separate physical devices. In such a scenario, thecompute resources interface (112) and hardware resources interface (116)may include one or more networks enabling these resource sets tocommunicate with one another. Consequently, any of these resource sets(e.g., 102, 108, 110) may include network interface cards or otherdevices to enable the hardware resources of the respective resource setsto communicate with each other.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessors (114) support multiple, independent connections. For example,the system control processors (114) may support a first networkcommunications connection (e.g., an in-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the processors (106). Thesystem control processors (114) may also support a second networkcommunications connection (e.g., an out-of-band connection) that may beallocated for use by applications hosted by the system controlprocessors (114). The out-of-band connection may be utilized formanagement and control purposes while the in-band connection may beutilized to provide computer implemented services. These connections maybe associated with different network endpoints thereby enablingcommunications to be selectively directed toward applications hosted bythe processors (106) and/or system control processors (114). As will bediscussed in greater detail with respect to FIG. 3 , the system controlprocessors (114) may utilize the out-of-band connections to communicatewith other devices to manage (e.g., instantiate, monitor, modify, etc.)composed information handling systems.

The network (130) may correspond to any type of network and may beoperably connected to the Internet or other networks thereby enablingthe information handling system (100) to communicate with any number andtype of other devices.

The information handling system (100) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, a server, laptopcomputer, desktop computer, node of a distributed system, etc. Thecomputing device may include one or more processors, memory (e.g.,random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., disk drives,solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may store computerinstructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the information handling system (100) describedin this application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustratedin FIGS. 5.1-7 . The information handling system (100) may beimplemented using other types of computing devices without departingfrom the invention. For additional details regarding computing devices,refer to FIG. 7 .

While the information handling system (100) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, aninformation handling system in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentswithout departing from the invention.

Turning to FIG. 2 , FIG. 2 shows a diagram of the hardware resources(118) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Asnoted above, system control processors of information handling systemmay present resources including, for example, some of the hardwareresources (118) to form a composed information handling system.

The hardware resources (118) may include any number and types ofhardware resources that may provide any quantity and type of resources(e.g., both DTF resources and non-DTF resources). For example, thehardware resources (118) may include storage devices (200), memorydevices (202), and special purpose devices (204).

The storage devices (200) may provide storage resources (e.g.,persistent storage) in which applications hosted by a composedinformation handling system may store data including any type andquantity of information. The storage devices (200) may include any type(e.g., both DTF storage devices and non-DTF devices) and quantity ofdevices for storing data. The devices may include, for example, harddisk drives, solid state drives, tape drives, etc. The storage devices(200) may include other types of devices for providing storage resourceswithout departing from the invention. For example, the storage devices(200) may include controllers (e.g., redundant array of diskcontrollers), load balancers, and/or other types of devices.

The memory devices (202) may provide memory resources (e.g., transitoryand/or persistent storage) in which a composed information handlingsystem may store data including any type and quantity of information.The memory devices (202) may include any type and quantity of devicesfor storing data. The devices may include, for example, transitorymemory such as random access memory, persistent memory such as storageclass memory, etc. The memory devices (202) may include other types ofdevices for providing memory resources without departing from theinvention. For example, the storage devices (200) may includecontrollers (e.g., replication managers), load balancers, and/or othertypes of devices.

The special purpose devices (204) may provide other types of resources(e.g., graphics processing resources, computation accelerationresources, etc.) to composed information handling systems. The specialpurpose devices (204) may include any type and quantity of devices forproviding other types of resources. The special purpose devices (204)may include, for example, graphics processing units for providinggraphics processing resources, compute accelerators for acceleratingcorresponding workloads performed by composed information handlingsystems, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for performingother functionalities, digital signal processors for facilitating highspeed communications, field programmable gate arrays to performcustomized computing functionalities, etc. The special purpose devices(204) may include other types of devices for providing other types ofresources without departing from the invention.

The system control processors of the information handling systems maymediate presentation of the resources provided by the hardware resources(118) to computing resource sets (e.g., as bare metal resources toprocessors). When doing so, the system control processors may provide alayer of abstraction that enables the hardware resources (118) to be,for example, virtualized, emulated as being compatible with othersystems, and/or directly connected to the compute resource sets (e.g.,pass through). Consequently, the resources of the hardware resources(118) may be finely, or at a macro level, allocated to differentcomposed information handling systems.

Additionally, the system control processors may manage operation ofthese hardware resources in accordance with one or more modelsincluding, for example, data protection models, security models,workload performance availability models, reporting models, etc. Forexample, the system control processors may cause multiple copies of datato be redundantly stored, to be stored with error correction code,and/or other information usable for data integrity purposes.

The manner of operation of these devices may be transparent to thecomputing resource sets utilizing these hardware resources for providingcomputer implemented services. Consequently, even though the resultingcomposed information handling system control plane may be unaware of theimplementation of these models, the composed information handlingsystems may still operate in accordance with these models therebyproviding a unified method of managing the operation of composedinformation handling systems.

Further, the system control processors may monitor the use of thesehardware resources by clients. As will be discussed below, the systemcontrol processors may host applications that monitor communicationsindicative of utilization of these hardware resources to determinewhether additional resources should be allocated to them, whetherresources should be deallocated from them, whether new instances ofcomposed information handling systems should be instantiated, etc.

While the hardware resources (118) have been illustrated and describedas including a limited number of specific components, local hardwareresources in accordance with embodiments of the invention may includeadditional, fewer, and/or different components without departing fromthe invention.

As discussed above, information handling systems may include systemcontrol processors that may be used to instantiate composed informationhandling systems. FIG. 3 shows a diagram of a system control processor(298) in accordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. Anyof the system control processors included in control resources sets ofFIG. 1.2 may be similar to the system control processor (298)illustrated in FIG. 3 .

The system control processor (298) may facilitate instantiation,reallocation of resources to/from composed systems, operation, anddecomposition of composed information handling systems. By doing so, asystem that includes information handling systems may dynamicallyinstantiate, recompose (, and decompose composed information handlingsystems.

To perform one or more of the aforementioned functionalities for/to thecomposed information handling systems, the system control processor(298) may include a composition manager (300), a utilization manager(301), a physical resources manager (302), an emulated resources manager(304), a virtual resources manager (306), an operation manager (308),hardware resource services (310), and storage (312). Each of thesecomponents of the system control processor is discussed below.

The composition manager (300) may manage the process of instantiating,operating, and decomposing composed information handling systems. Toprovide these management services, the composition manager (300) mayinclude functionality to (i) obtain information regarding the hardwarecomponents of the information handling system (e.g., obtain telemetrydata regarding the information handling system), (ii) provide theobtained information to other entities (e.g., management entities suchas system control processor manager (50, FIG. 1.1 )), (iii) obtaincomposition requests for composed information handling systems, (iv)based on the composition requests, prepare and present resources as baremetal resources to compute resource sets, (v) instantiate applicationsin composed information handling systems to cause the composedinformation handling systems to provide computer implemented services,conform their operation to security models, etc., (viii)add/remove/modify resources presented to the compute resource sets ofcomposed information handling systems dynamically in accordance withworkloads being performed by the composed information handling systems,(viii) coordinate with other system control processors to providedistributed system functionalities and/or transfer performance ofapplications and/or computer implemented services between composedinformation handling systems; and/or (ix) take steps to, e.g.,gracefully, stop execution of one or more resources that make up acomposed information handling system as part of servicing decompositionrequests received by the system control processor manager. By providingthe above functionalities, a system control processor in accordance withone or more embodiments of the invention may enable distributedresources from any number of information handling systems to beaggregated into a composed information handling system to providecomputer implemented services meeting the expectations of clients.

To obtain information regarding the hardware components of theinformation handling system, the composition manager (300) may inventorythe components of the information handling system hosting the systemcontrol processor. The inventory may include, for example, the type andmodel of each hardware component, versions of firmware or other codeexecuting on the hardware components, the DTF(s) (if any), and/orinformation regarding hardware components of the information handlingsystem that may be allocated to form composed information handlingsystems.

The composition manager (300) may obtain composition requests from otherentities (e.g., management entities tasked with instantiating composedinformation handling systems), as pre-loaded instructions present instorage of the system control processor, and/or via other methods. Thecomposition requests may specify, for example, the types and quantitiesof resources to be allocated to a composed information handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an intent based model.For example, rather than specifying specific hardware resources (orportions thereof) to be allocated to a particular compute resource setto obtain a composed information handling system, the resource requestsmay only specify that a composed information handling system is to beinstantiated having predetermined characteristics, that a composedinformation handling system will perform certain workloads or executecertain applications, and/or that the composed information handlingsystem be able to perform one or more predetermined functionalities. Insuch a scenario, the composition manager may decide how to instantiatethe composed information handling system (e.g., which resources toallocate, how to allocate the resources (e.g., virtualization,emulation, redundant workload performance, data integrity models toemploy, etc.), to which compute resource set(s) to present correspondingresources, etc.).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestsspecify the computing resource allocations using an explicit model. Forexample, the composition requests may specify (i) the resources to beallocated, (ii) the manner of presentation of those resources (e.g.,emulating a particular type of device using a virtualized resource vs.path through directly to a hardware component), and (iii) the computeresource set(s) to which each of the allocated resources are to bepresented.

In addition to specifying resource allocations, the composition requestsmay also specify, for example, applications to be hosted by the composedinformation handling systems, security models to be employed by thecomposed information handling systems, communication models to beemployed by the composed information handling systems, services to beprovided to the composed information handling systems, user/entityaccess credentials for use of the composed information handling systems,and/or other information usable to place the composed informationhandling systems into states in which the composed information handlingsystems provide desired computer implemented services.

To prepare and present resources to compute resource sets based on thecomposition requests, the system control processors may implement, forexample, abstraction, indirection, virtualization, mapping, emulation,and/or other types of services that may be used to present any type ofresources as a resource that is capable of bare metal utilization bycompute resource sets. To provide these services, the compositionmanager (300) may invoke the functionality of the physical resourcesmanager (302), the emulated resources manager (304), and/or the virtualresources manager (306).

When presenting the resources to the compute resource sets, the systemcontrol processor (298) may present the resources using an emulated dataplane. For example, the system control processors (298) may receive baremetal communications (e.g., IO from the processors that presumes adirect connection to another hardware resource) and respond in a mannerconsistent with responses of corresponding bare metal devices (e.g.,memory). When doing so, the system control processor (298) may translatethe communications into actions. The actions may be provided to thehardware resources used by the system control processor (298) to presentthe bare metal resources to the compute resource set(s). In turn, thehardware resources may perform the actions which results in a composedinformation handling system providing desired computer implementedservices.

In some scenarios, multiple system control processors may cooperate topresent bare metal resources to a compute resource set. For example, asingle information handling system may not include sufficient hardwareresources to present a quantity and/or type of resources to a computeresource set as specified by a composition request (e.g., present twostorage devices to a compute resource set when a single informationhandling system only includes a single storage device).

In this scenario, a second system control processor of a secondinformation handling system operably connected to the system controlprocessor tasked with presenting the resources to a compute resource setmay prepare one of its storage devices for presentation. Once prepared,the second system control processor may communicate with the systemcontrol processor to enable the system control processor to present theprepared storage device (i.e., the storage device in the informationhandling system) to the compute resource set. By doing so, resourcesfrom multiple information handling systems may be aggregated to presenta desired quantity of resources to compute resource set(s) to form acomposed information handling system.

By forming composed information handling systems as discussed above,embodiments of the invention may provide a system that is able toeffectively utilize distributed resources across a range of devices toprovide computer implemented services.

In addition to enabling the composition of composed information handlingsystem the composition manager (300) may also include functionality todecompose all or a portion of a composed information handling system.

When providing its functionality, the composition manager (300) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.3 .

After a composed information handling system is formed, a client maybegin to utilize the hardware resources of the composed informationhandling system by causing desired computer implemented services to beprovided using the hardware resources. The utilization manager (301) maymonitor the use of these hardware resources by the client to ascertainwhether the services provided using these hardware resources meet theexpectations of the client. For example, if a hardware resource islikely to enter a compromised state, the computer implemented servicesprovided by a composed information handling system may no longer be ableto meet the client's expectations.

The physical resources manager (302) may manage presentation ofresources to compute resource sets. For example, the physical resourcesmanager (302) may generate, for example, translation tables that specifyactions to be performed in response to bare metal communicationsobtained from compute resource sets. The translation tables may be usedto take action in response to communications from compute resource sets.

The physical resources manager (302) may generate the translation tablesbased on the components of the compute resource sets, allocations orother types of commands/communications obtained from the computeresource sets, and the resources of the information handling system(s)allocated to service the compute resource set. For example, when acompute resource set is presented with a bare metal resource, it may gothrough a discovery process to prepare the bare metal resource for use.As the discovery process proceeds, the compute resource set may sendcommands/communications to the bare metal resource to, for example,discover its address range. The physical resources manager (302) maymonitor this process, respond appropriately, and generate thetranslation table based on these commands and the resources available toservice these bare metal commands/communications (e.g., to obtainaddress translation tables, emulation tables, etc.).

For example, consider a scenario where a virtualized disk is allocatedto service bare metal storage commands from a compute resource set. Insuch a scenario, the physical resources manager (302) may generate atranslation table that translates physical write from the computeresource set to virtualized writes corresponding to the virtualizeddisk. Consequently, the virtualized disk may be used by the systemcontrol processor (298) to present bare metal resources to the computeresource set.

The emulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables thatenable resources that would otherwise be incompatible with a computeresource set to be compatible with the compute resource set. Differenttypes of hardware resources of a compute resource set may be compatiblewith different types of hardware resources. Consequently, resourcesallocated to provide bare metal resources may not necessarily becompatible with the hardware resources of a compute resource set. Theemulated resources manager (304) may generate emulation tables that mapbare metal communications obtained from a compute resource set toactions that are compatible with resources allocated to provide baremetal resources to the compute resource sets.

The virtual resources manager (306) may manage virtualized resourcesthat may be allocated to provide bare metal resources to computeresource sets. For example, the virtual resources manager (306) mayinclude hypervisor functionality to virtualized hardware resources andallocate portions of the virtualized resources for use in providing baremetal resources.

While the physical resources manager (302), emulated resources manager(304), and virtual resources manager (306) have been described asgenerating tables, these components of the system control processor maygenerate other types of data structures or utilize different managementmodels to provide their respective functionalities without departingfrom the invention.

The functionalities of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beutilized in isolation and/or combination to provide bare metal resourcesto compute resource sets. By doing so, the system control processor(298) may address compatibility issues, sizing issues to match availableresources to those that are to be allocated, and/or other issues toenable bare metal resources to be presented to compute resource sets.

When providing bare metal resources, the composition manager (300) mayinvoke the functionality of the physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306).Consequently, resources may be presented as bare metal resources viapass-through (i.e., forwarding IO from compute resource sets to hardwareresources), bare metal resource addressing of virtualized resources,and/or as emulated resources compatible with the hardware components ofthe compute resource set.

The functionality of the physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), and virtual resources manager (306) may beinvoked using any communication model including, for example, messagepassing, state sharing, memory sharing, etc.

The operation manager (308) may manage the general operation of thesystem control processor (298). For example, the operation manager (308)may operate as an operating system or other entity that manages theresources of the system control processor (298). The composition manager(300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302),emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306),and/or other entities hosted by the system control processor (298) maycall or otherwise utilize the operation manager (308) to obtainappropriate resources (e.g., processing resources, memory resources,storage, communications, etc.) to provide their functionalities.

The hardware resource services (310) may facilitate use of the hardwarecomponents of any number of hardware resource sets (e.g., 110, FIG. 1.1). For example, the hardware resource services (310) may include driverfunctionality to appropriately communicate with the hardware resourcesof hardware resource sets.

The hardware resource services (310) may be invoked by, for example, theoperation manager (308).

When providing their functionalities, any of the aforementionedcomponents of the system control processor (298) may perform all, or aportion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-0.3 .

The system control processor (298) may be implemented using computingdevices. The computing devices may be, for example, an embeddedcomputing device such as a system on a chip, a processing deviceoperably coupled to memory and storage, or another type of computingdevice. The computing device may include one or more processors, memory(e.g., random access memory), and/or persistent storage (e.g., diskdrives, solid state drives, etc.). The persistent storage may storecomputer instructions, e.g., computer code, that (when executed by theprocessor(s) of the computing device) cause the computing device toperform the functions of the system control processor (298) described inthis application and/or all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated inFIGS. 5.1-5.3 . The system control processor (298) may be implementedusing other types of computing devices without departing from theinvention. For additional details regarding computing devices, refer toFIG. 7 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the system controlprocessor (298) is implemented as an on-board device. For example, thesystem control processor (298) may be implemented using a chip includingcircuitry disposed on a circuit card. The circuit card may also host thecompute resource sets and/or hardware resource sets managed by thesystem control processor (298).

In one or more embodiments of the invention, any of the compositionmanager (300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager(302), emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager(306), operation manager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310)are implemented using a hardware resource including circuitry. Thehardware resource may be, for example, a digital signal processor, afield programmable gate array, or an application specific integratedcircuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware resource toperform the functionality of the composition manager (300), utilizationmanager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulated resourcesmanager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operation manager (308),and/or hardware resource services (310). The composition manager (300),utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operationmanager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310) may beimplemented using other types of hardware resources without departingfrom the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, any of the compositionmanager (300), utilization manager (301), physical resources manager(302), emulated resources manager (304), virtual resources manager(306), operation manager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310)are implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage (e.g., as part of the system controlprocessor (298) or operably connected to the system control processor(298) thereby enabling processors of the system control processor (298)to obtain and execute the computing code) that when executed by theprocessor performs the functionality of the composition manager (300),utilization manager (301), physical resources manager (302), emulatedresources manager (304), virtual resources manager (306), operationmanager (308), and/or hardware resource services (310). The processormay be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, for example, acentral processing unit or a microcontroller. The processor may be othertypes of hardware resources for processing digital information withoutdeparting from the invention.

As used herein, an entity that is programmed to perform a function(e.g., step, action, etc.) refers to one or more hardware resources(e.g., processors, digital signal processors, field programmable gatearrays, application specific integrated circuits, etc.) that provide thefunction. The hardware resources may be programmed to do so by, forexample, being able to execute computer instructions (e.g., computercode) that cause the hardware resources to provide the function. Inanother example, the hardware resource may be programmed to do so byhaving circuitry that has been adapted (e.g., modified) to perform thefunction. An entity that is programmed to perform a function does notinclude computer instructions in isolation from any hardware resources.Computer instructions may be used to program a hardware resource that,when programmed, provides the function.

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (312) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardwareresources and/or logical devices. For example, storage (312) may includeany quantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatilestorage), long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), othertypes of hardware resources that may provide short term and/or long termdata storage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (312) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (312)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (312) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (312) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware resource that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (312) may store data structures including, for example,composed information handling system data (314), a resource map (316),and a resource utilization map (318). Each of these data structures isdiscussed below.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be implementedusing one or more data structures that includes information regardingcomposed information handling systems. For example, the composedinformation handling system data (314) may specify identifiers ofcomposed information handling systems and resources that have beenallocated to the composed information handling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may also includeinformation regarding the operation of the composed information handlingsystems. The information may include, for example, workload performancedata, resource utilization rates over time, and/or other informationthat may be utilized to manage the operation of the composed informationhandling systems.

The composed information handling system data (314) may further includeinformation regarding management models employed by system controlprocessors. For example, the composed information handling system data(314) may include information regarding duplicative data stored for dataintegrity purposes, redundantly performed workloads to meet highavailability service requirements, encryption schemes utilized toprevent unauthorized access of data, etc.

The composed information handling system data (314) may be maintainedby, for example, the composition manager (300). For example, thecomposition manager may add, remove, and/or modify information includedin the composed information handling system data (314) to cause theinformation included in the composed information handling system data(314) to reflect the state of the composed information handling systems.

The data structures of the composed information handling system data(314) may be implemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructureddata, databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being storedlocally, the composed information handling system data (314) may bestored remotely and may be distributed across any number of deviceswithout departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be implemented using one or more datastructures that include information regarding resources of theinformation handling system and/or other information handling systems.For example, the resource map (316) may specify the type (e.g., theDTF(s), if any) and/or quantity of resources (e.g., hardware resources,virtualized devices, etc.) available for allocation (i.e., in anallocatable state) and/or that are already allocated to composedinformation handling systems. The resource map (316) may be used toprovide data to management entities such as system control processormanagers.

The data structures of the resource map (316) may be implemented using,for example, lists, tables, unstructured data, databases, etc. Whileillustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, the resource map (316)may be stored remotely and may be distributed across any number ofdevices without departing from the invention.

The resource map (316) may be maintained by, for example, thecomposition manager (300). For example, the composition manager (300)may add, remove, and/or modify information included in the resource map(316) to cause the information included in the resource map (316) toreflect the state of the information handling system and/or otherinformation handling systems.

The resource utilization map (318) may be implemented using one or moredata structures that includes information regarding the utilization ofhardware resources of the composed information handling systems,workloads being performed by the hardware resources, and/or other typesof information that may be used to ascertain the quality of computerimplemented services being provided by a composed information handlingsystem. For example, the resource utilization map (318) may specifyidentifiers of hardware resources of a composed information handlingsystem, the workloads being performed by these hardware resources, theutilization rates of these hardware resources, etc.

The resource utilization map (318) may specify the resource utilizationvia any method. For example, the resource utilization map (318) map mayspecify a quantity of utilization, resource utilization rates over time,power consumption of hardware resources while utilized to provide thecomputer implemented services, workload (and/or statuses) performedusing hardware resources, etc. The resource utilization map (318) mayinclude other types of information used to quantify the quality ofcomputer implemented services provided without departing from theinvention.

The resource utilization map (318) may be maintained by, for example,the utilization manager (301). For example, the utilization manager(301) may add, remove, and/or modify information included in theresource utilization map (318) to cause the information included inresource utilization map (318) to reflect the current health of thehardware devices that provide resources to composed information handlingsystems.

The resource utilization map (318) may be maintained by, for example,the utilization manager (301). For example, the utilization manager(301) may add, remove, and/or modify information included in theresource utilization map (318) to cause the information included in theresource utilization map (318) to reflect the current utilization of thecomposed information handling systems.

The data structures of the resource utilization map (318) may beimplemented using, for example, lists, tables, unstructured data,databases, etc. While illustrated in FIG. 3 as being stored locally, theresource utilization map (318) may be stored remotely and may bedistributed across any number of devices without departing from theinvention.

While the storage (312) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor (298) has been illustrated anddescribed as including a limited number of specific components, a systemcontrol processor in accordance with embodiments of the invention mayinclude additional, fewer, and/or different components without departingfrom the invention.

As discussed above, a system control processor manager may cooperatewith system control processors of control resource sets to instantiatecomposed information handling systems by presenting resources fromhardware resource sets to processors of compute resource sets. FIG. 4shows a diagram of the system control processor manager (400) inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention.

The system control processor manager (400) may manage the process ofinstantiating composed information handling systems and recomposingcomposed information handling systems over time. To do so, the systemcontrol processor manager (400) may include an infrastructure manager(402), and storage (410). Each of these components is discussed below.

The infrastructure manager (402) may provide composition services.

Composition services may include obtaining composition, recomposition,and/or decomposition requests for composed information handling systems,determining the resources to allocate to instantiate composedinformation handling systems, add/remove resources torecompose/decompose all or a portion of a composed information handlingsystems, manage transfers of workloads between composed informationhandling systems for recomposition purposes, and cooperating with systemcontrol processors to allocate the identified resources. By doing so,the infrastructure manager (402) may cause any number of computerimplemented services to be provided using the composed informationhandling systems.

To determine the resources to allocate to new composed informationhandling systems, the infrastructure manager (402) may employ an intentbased model that translates an intent expressed in a composition requestto one more allocations of resources. For example, the infrastructuremanager (402) may match an expressed intent to resources to be allocatedto satisfy that intent. A lookup table may specify the type, quantity,method of management, and/or other information regarding any number ofresources that when aggregated will be able to satisfy a correspondingintent. The infrastructure manager (402) may identify resources forallocation to satisfy composition requests via other methods withoutdeparting from the invention.

To recompose composed information handling systems, the infrastructuremanager (402) may add or remove resources from existing composedinformation handling systems or instantiate new composed informationhandling systems and transfer workloads from existing composedinformation handling systems to the new composed information handlingsystems. Consequently, the composed information handling systemsperforming the workloads may have different amounts and/or types ofresources after being recomposed.

In some embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager (402)may recompose deployments. A deployment may be a group of composedinformation handling systems performing a predetermined function. Insuch a scenario, the infrastructure manager (402) may recompose one ormore of the composed information handling systems of the deployment torecompose the deployment.

The infrastructure manager (402) may recompose infrastructure (e.g.,deployments, individual composed information handling systems, etc.) inresponse to recomposition requests.

To decompose composed information handling systems, the infrastructuremanager (402) identify all or a portion of the resources from a composedinformation handling systems to be deallocated, transfer workloads fromcomposed information handling systems of which one or more resources areto be deallocated, deallocate, after the transfer of the workload, theaforementioned identified resources.

To cooperate with the system control processors for composed informationhandling system composition, recomposition purposes and/or decompositionpurposes, the infrastructure manager (402) may obtain telemetry dataregarding the resources of any number of information handling systemsand/or external resources that are available for allocation. Theinfrastructure manager (402) may aggregate this data in a telemetry datamap (412) which may be subsequently used to identify resources of anynumber of information handling systems and/or external resources tosatisfy composition, recomposition request and/or decompositionrequests.

When the infrastructure manager (402) identifies the resources to beallocated (i.e., resources in an allocatable state), the infrastructuremanager (402) may communicate with any number of system controlprocessors (e.g., of control resource sets of information handlingsystems) to implement the identified allocations. For example, theinfrastructure manager (402) may notify a system control processor of acontrol resource set that portions of a hardware resource set are to beallocated to a compute resource set to instantiate a composedinformation handling system. The system control processor may then takeaction (e.g., prepare the portion of the hardware resource set forpresentation to a processor of the compute resource set) in response tothe notification.

As composed information handling systems are instantiated recomposedand/or decomposed, the infrastructure manager (402) may add informationreflecting the resources allocated to composed information handlingsystems, the workloads being performed by the composed informationhandling systems, the state of the resources (e.g., allocatable,allocated, cleaning), the health of the resources (e.g., whether theresource is in a compromised state) and/or other types of information toan infrastructure utilization map (414).

The infrastructure manager (402) may utilize this information to, forexample, decide whether resources should be added to or removed fromcomposed information handling systems as well as to perform the methodshown in FIGS. 5.1-5.3 .

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a hardware resource including circuitry. Thehardware resource may be, for example, a digital signal processor, afield programmable gate array, or an application specific integratedcircuit. The circuitry may be adapted to cause the hardware resource toperform the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theinfrastructure manager (402) may be implemented using other types ofhardware resources without departing from the invention.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the infrastructure manager(402) is implemented using a processor adapted to execute computing codestored on a persistent storage that when executed by the processorperforms the functionality of the infrastructure manager (402). Theprocessor may be a hardware processor including circuitry such as, forexample, a central processing unit or a microcontroller. The processormay be other types of hardware resources for processing digitalinformation without departing from the invention.

When providing its functionality, the infrastructure manager (402) mayperform all, or a portion, of the methods illustrated in FIGS. 5.1-5.3 .

In one or more embodiments disclosed herein, the storage (410) isimplemented using physical devices that provide data storage services(e.g., storing data and providing copies of previously stored data). Thedevices that provide data storage services may include hardwareresources and/or logical devices. For example, storage (410) may includeany quantity and/or combination of memory devices (i.e., volatilestorage), long term storage devices (i.e., persistent storage), othertypes of hardware resources that may provide short term and/or long termdata storage services, and/or logical storage devices (e.g., virtualpersistent storage/virtual volatile storage).

For example, storage (410) may include a memory device (e.g., a dual inline memory device) in which data is stored and from which copies ofpreviously stored data are provided. In another example, storage (410)may include a persistent storage device (e.g., a solid-state disk drive)in which data is stored and from which copies of previously stored datais provided. In a still further example, storage (410) may include (i) amemory device (e.g., a dual in line memory device) in which data isstored and from which copies of previously stored data are provided and(ii) a persistent storage device that stores a copy of the data storedin the memory device (e.g., to provide a copy of the data in the eventthat power loss or other issues with the memory device that may impactits ability to maintain the copy of the data cause the memory device tolose the data).

The storage (410) may also be implemented using logical storage. Alogical storage (e.g., virtual disk) may be implemented using one ormore physical storage devices whose storage resources (all, or aportion) are allocated for use using a software layer. Thus, a logicalstorage may include both physical storage devices and an entityexecuting on a processor or other hardware resource that allocates thestorage resources of the physical storage devices.

The storage (410) may store data structures including, for example, thetelemetry data map (412) and the infrastructure utilization map (414).These data structures may be maintained by, for example, theinfrastructure manager (402). For example, the infrastructure manager(402) may add, remove, and/or modify information included in these datastructures to cause the information included in these data structure toreflect the state of any number of information handling systems,external resources, and/or composed information handling systems.

While the storage (410) has been illustrated and described as includinga limited number and type of data, a storage in accordance withembodiments of the invention may store additional, less, and/ordifferent data without departing from the invention.

While the system control processor manager (400) has been illustratedand described as including a limited number of specific components, asystem control processor manager in accordance with embodiments of theinvention may include additional, fewer, and/or different componentsthan those illustrated in FIG. 4 without departing from the invention.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling system bydynamically allocating and deallocating resources for the composedinformation handling systems.

As discussed above, the system of FIG. 1.1 may provide computerimplemented services using composed information handling systems. FIGS.5.1-5.3 show methods that may be performed by components of the systemof FIG. 1.1 to manage composed information handling systems.

FIG. 5.1 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.1 may beperformed to provide computer implemented services using a composedinformation handling system in accordance with one or more embodimentsof the invention. The method shown in FIG. 5.1 may be performed by, forexample, a system control processor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1 ). Othercomponents of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, ofthe method of FIG. 5.1 without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.1 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 500, a composition request for a composed information handlingsystem is obtained. The composition request may be obtained using anymethod without departing from the invention. For example, thecomposition request may be obtained as part of a message from anotherentity operably connected to a system control processor manager. Inanother example, the composition request may be locally stored in astorage of a system control processor manager.

The composition request may be a data structure specifying that thecomposed information handling system is to be instantiated. As discussedwith respect to FIG. 3 , the composition request may be specific (i.e.,includes a listing of resources (which may include DTF resources) to beallocated to the composed information handling system) or intent based(i.e., a desired outcome without specifying the resources to beallocated). The composition request may include any type and quantity ofinformation usable to determine how to instantiate a composedinformation handling system.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of resources to be allocated to the composed informationhandling system. For example, the composition request may specifyresources, memory resources, storage resources, graphics processingresources, compute acceleration resources, communications resources,etc. The list may include any type and quantity of resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources are to be presented. For example, thecomposition request may specify virtualization, emulation, etc. forpresenting the resources.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies how the resources used to present the resources are to bemanaged (e.g., a management model such as data integrity, security,management, usability, performance, etc.). For example, the compositionrequest may specify levels of redundancy for data storage, dataintegrity to be employed (e.g., redundant array of independent disks(RAID), error correction code (ECC), etc.), levels of security to beemployed for resources (e.g., encryption), and/or other information thatspecifies how system control processors are to utilize resources forpresentation of resources to composed information handling systems. Themethods employed by the system control processors may be transparent tothe composed information handling systems because the resources may bepresented to the compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling systems as bare metal resources while the system controlprocessors provide the management functionality.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestincludes a list of applications to be hosted by the composed informationhandling system. The list may include any type and quantity ofapplications.

The composition request may also specify the identities of one or moresystem control processors hosted by other devices. In some scenarios, asnoted above, resources from other information handling systems may beused to form a composed information handling system. The identifiers ofthe system control processors of these other information handlingsystems may be used to form operable connections between the systemcontrol processors. These connections may be used by the system controlprocessors to present, as bare metal resources, resources from otherinformation handling systems to compute resource set(s) of the composedinformation handling system.

For example, a system control processor of a first information handlingsystem may manage a storage device as a virtualized resource. The systemcontrol processor may connect to a second system control processorwhich, in turn, is operably connected to a compute resource set. Thesecond control processor may operate as a pass through for the systemcontrol processor while presenting the virtualized resource as a baremetal resource to the compute resource set. Consequently, when thecompute resource set attempts to communicate with the storage, thecompute resource set may send a bare metal communication to the systemcontrol processor, the system control processor may relay the bare metalcommunication to the second system control processor, and the secondsystem control processor may processes the bare metal communication inaccordance with its virtualization model (e.g., converting a logicalblock address to a physical block address in accordance with thevirtualization model) to instruct the storage device to perform one ormore actions to satisfy the bare metal communication.

In one or more embodiments of the invention, the composition requestspecifies a desired outcome. The desired outcome may be, for example,computer implemented services to be provided in response to thecomposition request. In another example, the desired outcome may be alist of applications to be hosted in response to the compositionrequest. In other words, the composition request may specify a desiredoutcome without specifying the resources that are to be used to satisfythe requests, the methods of managing the resources, models employed toprovide for data integrity/security/etc. Such a composition request maybe referred to as an intent based composition request.

In step 502, at least one compute resource set having resourcesspecified by the composition request is identified. The at least onecompute resource set may be identified by matching the resourcesspecified by the composition request to at least one compute resourceset having those resources using a telemetry data map (412, FIG. 4 ).

For example, the telemetry data map (412, FIG. 4 ) may specify a list ofcompute resource sets, identifiers of control resource sets that managethe listed compute resource sets, and the hardware resources of thelisted compute resource sets. By matching the resources specified by thecomposition request to the hardware resources specified in the list, thecompute resource set corresponding to the listed hardware resources maybe identified as the at least one compute resource set.

If no compute resource set includes all of the resources specified bythe composition request, multiple compute resource sets havingsufficient hardware resources to meet the resources specified by thecomposition request may be identified as the at least one computeresource set.

However, the at least one compute resource set may not able to satisfyall of the resources specified by the composition request. As discussedabove, compute resource sets may only include a limited number and typeof hardware resources. Consequently, the at least one compute resourceset may not be able to provide some of the resources (e.g., graphicsprocessing, communications, etc.) specified by the composition request.

In step 504, at least one hardware resource set, having hardwareresources specified by the composition request, is identified. Then atleast one hardware resource set may be identified similarly to thatdescribed with respect to the identification of the at least one computeresource set of step 502. For example, the resource requirementsspecified by the composition request may be matched to compute resourcesets. In one embodiment of the invention, the composition requestspecifies a DTF hardware resource (i.e., a hardware resource thatimplements one or more DTFs). In such cases, the method shown in FIG.5.2 may be used to satisfy this portion of the composition request.

In step 506, management services for the at least one compute resourceset and the at least one hardware resource set are setup using at leastone control resource set. The management services may include, forexample, virtualization, emulation, abstraction, indirection, and/orother type of services to meet the requirements of data integrity,security, and/or management models.

The management services may also include monitoring of the utilizationof the hardware resources of the at least one compute resource set andthe at least one hardware resource set. For example, the utilizationmonitor hosted by the system control processor of the at least onecontrol resource set may be configured to perform the monitoring of thehardware resources of these sets. Consequently, the system may begin tomonitor the use of these hardware resources by a client sent thecomposition request.

As discussed above, the utilization manager may be monitoring bycommunicating with the hardware resources of the at least one computeresource set via sideband communication, intercept communications fromthe at least one computing resource set directed toward the at least onehardware resource set to identify how the hardware resources of the atleast compute resource set are using the hardware resources of the atleast one hardware resource set, etc. Consequently, the monitoredcomputing resource use may be transparent to entities executing usingthe at least one compute resource set.

The management services may be setup, in all or in part, via the methodillustrated in FIG. 5.3 .

In step 508, the managed at least one hardware resources are presentedto the managed at least one compute resource set as bare metal resourcesusing the at least one control resource set to instantiate the composedinformation handling system to service the composition request.

To present the managed at least one hardware resource set, the systemcontrol processor manager may instruct the system control processors ofthe at least control resource set to present the managed at least onehardware resource set as discoverable bare metal resources to the atleast one compute resource set. For example, the at least one controlresource set may send a bare metal communication to one or moreprocessors of the managed at least one compute resource set to cause theprocessors to discover the presence of the presented bare metalresources. By doing so, the processors may then begin to utilize themanaged at least one hardware resource set as bare metal resourcesresulting in a composed information handling system having all of theresources necessary to provide desired computer implemented services.

The method may end following step 508.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.1 , a composed informationhandling system may be formed using resources from one or moreinformation handling systems and/or external resources in a manner thatallows of use of the hardware resources of the composed informationhandling system to be monitored.

FIG. 5.2 shows a flowchart of a method in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention. The method depicted in FIG. 5.2 may beperformed to instantiate a data transformation functionality (DTF)container to satisfy a composition request in accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention. The method shown in FIG. 5.2 may beperformed, for example, by a system control processor manager (e.g., 50,FIG. 1.1 ). Other components of the system in FIG. 1.1 may perform all,or a portion, of the method of FIG. 5.2 without departing from theinvention.

While FIG. 5.2 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a parallel,and/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 510, the composition request is analyzed, based on the analysis,a determination is made that the composition request specifies ahardware resource with a specific data transformation functionality(DTF).

In step 512, a determination is made, e.g. using the telemetry data map(412), about whether there is an allocatable hardware resource with thespecific DTF. If there is an allocatable hardware resource with thespecific DTF, the process proceeds to step 514; otherwise, the processproceeds to step 516.

In step 514, the allocatable hardware resource with the specific DTF isselected to satisfy this requirement in the composition request and theprocess ends.

In step 516, when there is not an allocatable hardware resource with thespecific DTF, a hardware resource that satisfies all requirementsspecified in the composition request, except the DTF requirement, isidentified. For example, if the composition request specifies a solidstate storage device with a size of at least 500 GB that isself-encrypting, then a solid state storage device with 1 TB of spacethat is not self-encrypting may be identified.

In step 518, a DTF container to provide the required DTF specified inthe composition request is instantiated on the proxy server. Continuingwith the example above, the DTF container provides theencryption/decryption functionality.

In step 520, the DTF container is connected to the non-DTF hardwareresource (i.e., the hardware resource identified in step 516).Connecting the DTF container to the non-DTF hardware includes setting upthe communication path (which may include one or more APIs) to allow theDTF container to communicate with the non-DTF hardware resource. Othermechanisms may be used to enable communication (or interaction) betweenthe non-DTF hardware resource and the DTF-resource without departingfrom the invention.

In step 522, the DTF container is selected as the hardware resource thatsatisfies the composition request. As discussed above, the DTF containerincludes one or more applications to emulate the hardware resource withthe DTF. Thus, from the perspective of the other resources (excludingthe non-DTF hardware resource) in the composed information handlingsystem, the DTF container appears the hardware resource with the DTF.Further, the other resources in the composed information handling systemare not aware of the non-DTF hardware resource.

If there are multiple resources to be processed, then steps 510-522 maybe performed for each resource.

Further, if the composition request requires multiple DTFs then either asingle DTF container may be instantiated that performs all of the DTFs,one DTF container may be instantiated for each DTF, or multiple DTFcontainers may be instantiated which each DTF container may implementone or more of the required DTFs.

In scenarios in which there are multiple DTFs, step 520 may includeconnecting the various DTF containers to each other (e.g., via APIs orother communication mechanisms) to facilitate the flow of the data (withthe appropriate transformations) from the resource that issued the reador write request, through the various DTF containers, and ultimately tothe non-DTF hardware resource.

Turning to FIG. 5.3 , FIG. 5.3 shows a flowchart of a method inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methoddepicted in FIG. 5.3 may be performed to setup management services inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The methodshown in FIG. 5.3 may be performed by, for example, a system controlprocessor manager (e.g., 50, FIG. 1.1 ). Other components of the systemin FIG. 1.1 may perform all, or a portion, of the method of FIG. 5.2without departing from the invention.

While FIG. 5.3 is illustrated as a series of steps, any of the steps maybe omitted, performed in a different order, additional steps may beincluded, and/or any or all of the steps may be performed in a paralleland/or partially overlapping manner without departing from theinvention.

In step 530, resource management services for the at least one computeresource set and the at least one hardware resource set are setup.

To setup the resource management services, the system control processormanager may cooperate with the at least one control resource set. Forexample, the system control processor manager may generate instructionsfor implementing the management services, encapsulate the instructionsin a message, and send the message to one or more system controlprocessors of the at least one control resource set. In response toreceiving the message, the system control processors may implement theinstructions thereby implementing any number of management services suchas virtualization, emulation, etc.

The system control processor manager may also include identificationinformation for the system control processors that will cooperate inpresenting resources as part of instantiating a composed informationhandling system. Consequently, the system control processors of controlresource sets that will facilitate bare metal presentation of resourcesto processors of compute resource sets of the composed informationhandling system may be able to identify each other, communicate with oneanother, etc.

Setting up management services for the hardware resource set mayinclude, for example, preparing translation, indirection, or abstractiontables used to translate logical addresses provided by compute resourcesets to physical addresses utilized by hardware resources of thehardware resource set.

In another example, setting up management services may include, if thetype of the resource allocation is a portion of a virtualized resource,making a call to a virtualization resources manager to allocate theportion of resources from an existing virtualized resource or byinstantiating a new virtualized resource and allocating the portion fromthe new virtualized resource.

In a still further example, if the type of the resource allocationrequires an emulated resource, providing management services may includeinstantiating a corresponding emulation layer between a hardwareresource of the hardware resource set and the compute resource set.Consequently, bare metal communications between the compute resource setand the hardware resource used to present the bare metal resource to thecompute resource set may be automatically translated by the systemcontrol processor.

Setting up management services may further include modifying theoperation of one or more devices to provide, for example, data integrityfunctionality (e.g., RAID, ECC, etc.), security functionality (e.g.,encryption), and/or other functionalities that are transparent to thecomposed information handling system.

By setting up management services, a managed at least one computeresource set and a managed at least one hardware resource set may beobtained.

In step 532, a utilization monitor that monitors utilization of the atleast one compute resource set and the at least one hardware resourceset is instantiated.

The utilization monitor may be instantiated by beginning execution of autilization monitor on a system control processor of the at least onecontrol resource set that manages presentation of the at least onehardware resource set to the at least one control resource set. Theutilization monitor may then be configured (e.g., provided an identifierof the composed information handling system and components thereof thatwill be monitored by it) to monitor the use of resources of the composedinformation handling system, performance of applications by the composedinformation handling systems, and/or to otherwise obtain quality metricusable to determine whether the computer implemented services providedby the composed information handling system meets client expectations.If a utilization monitor is already executing on the system controlprocessor, the existing instance of the utilization monitor may beconfigured to monitor the use of resources, application performance,etc. of the composed information handling system.

For example, the system control processor manager may generateinstructions for beginning execution and/or configuration of theutilization monitor, encapsulate the instructions in a message, and sendthe message the system control processor. In response to receiving themessage, the system control processor may implement the instructionsthereby instantiating the utilization monitor and beginning monitoringof the use of the resources of the composed information handling system.

The method may end following step 512.

Using the method illustrated in FIG. 5.2 , management services for acomposed information handling system may be setup that allows forcomputing resource use information to be collected in a manner that istransparent to entities hosted by the composed information handlingsystem. The aforementioned information may be utilized to identifywhether computer implemented services provided by the composedinformation handling system meets client expectations.

To further clarify embodiments of the invention, a non-limiting exampleis provided in FIG. 6 . Actions performed by components of theillustrated system are illustrated by numbered, circular boxesinterconnected, in part, using dashed lines terminating in arrows. Forthe sake of brevity, only a limited number of components of the systemof FIG. 1.1 is illustrated in FIG. 6 .

Consider a scenario in which the system control processor manager (600)receives a composition request that specifies a storage unit that isself-encrypting. [1] In response to the composition request, selectscompute resource set A (612), and then determines whether there is anyallocatable storage device that is self-encrypting. In this example,there are two storage devices (616, 626), neither of which isself-encrypting [2]. In response to this determination, the systemcontrol processor manager (600) selects storage device (626) (i.e., thenon-DTF storage device) and then initiates the instantiation of anencryption container (630) (i.e., the DTF container) on proxy server(628) [3].

The encryption container (630) is subsequently instantiated. Onceinstantiated, the encryption container (630) is configured to emulate astorage device that is self-encrypting [4]. The system control processormanager (600) then issues instructions to the system control processor(624) to enable communication between the storage device (626) and theencryption container (630) [5]. The system control processor (624)subsequently configures itself and, as appropriate, configures thestorage device (626) to communicate with the encryption container (630),to enable the encryption container (630) to: (i) issue write requests tothe storage device (626) and receive conformations from the storagedevice (626) that the write request was successfully serviced (i.e.,that the encrypted data was successfully written to the storage device(626)), and (ii) to issue read requests to the storage device (626), andreceive the requested encrypted data from the storage device (626) [6].

Once the aforementioned configuration has been completed, the systemcontrol processor manager (600) instructs the system control processor(614) to compose the composed information handling system using computeresource set A (612) and the encryption container (630) [7]. The systemcontrol processor (614) subsequently instantiates the composedinformation handling system [8]. Once instantiated the applications,executing on the composed information handling system, interact with theencryption container (630) as if the encryption container is a storagedevice that is self-encryption. While the encryption container (630)performs the encryption and/or decryption on the data, the data (whichmay or may not be encrypted) is stored on the storage device (630).

As discussed above, embodiments of the invention may be implementedusing computing devices. FIG. 7 shows a diagram of a computing device inaccordance with one or more embodiments of the invention. The computingdevice (700) may include one or more computer processors (702),non-persistent storage (704) (e.g., volatile memory, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), cache memory), persistent storage (706) (e.g., ahard disk, an optical drive such as a compact disk (CD) drive or digitalversatile disk (DVD) drive, a flash memory, etc.), a communicationinterface (712) (e.g., Bluetooth interface, infrared interface, networkinterface, optical interface, etc.), input devices (710), output devices(708), and numerous other elements (not shown) and functionalities. Eachof these components is described below.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computer processor(s) (702) maybe an integrated circuit for processing instructions. For example, thecomputer processor(s) may be one or more cores or micro-cores of aprocessor. The computing device (700) may also include one or more inputdevices (710), such as a touchscreen, keyboard, mouse, microphone,touchpad, electronic pen, or any other type of input device. Further,the communication interface (712) may include an integrated circuit forconnecting the computing device (700) to a network (not shown) (e.g., alocal area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as theInternet, mobile network, or any other type of network) and/or toanother device, such as another computing device.

In one embodiment of the invention, the computing device (700) mayinclude one or more output devices (708), such as a screen (e.g., aliquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, touchscreen, cathode raytube (CRT) monitor, projector, or other display device), a printer,external storage, or any other output device. One or more of the outputdevices may be the same or different from the input device(s). The inputand output device(s) may be locally or remotely connected to thecomputer processor(s) (702), non-persistent storage (704), andpersistent storage (706). Many different types of computing devicesexist, and the aforementioned input and output device(s) may take otherforms.

The problems discussed throughout the detailed description should beunderstood as being examples of problems solved by embodiments of theinvention and the invention should not be limited to solving thesame/similar problems. The disclosed invention is broadly applicable toaddress a range of problems beyond those discussed herein.

One or more embodiments of the invention may be implemented usinginstructions executed by one or more processors of a computing device.Further, such instructions may correspond to computer readableinstructions that are stored on one or more non-transitory computerreadable mediums.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for providing computer implementedservices using information handling systems, comprising: persistentstorage; and a system control processor manager programmed to: identifya hardware resource requirement in a composition request for a composedinformation handling system, wherein the hardware resource requirementspecifies a hardware resource with data transformation functionality(DTF); identify a hardware resource that does not have the DTF; connectthe hardware resource to a DTF container, wherein the DTF containerimplements the DTF and emulates the hardware resource with DTF; andinitiate composition of the composed information handling system usingthe DTF container, wherein the DTF container satisfies the hardwareresource requirement.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the hardwareresource is a storage unit.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the DTF iscompression.
 4. The system of claim 2, wherein the DTF is encryption. 5.The system of claim 2, wherein data generated by the composedinformation handling system is processed by the DTF container to obtainprocessed data, wherein the processed data is stored in the storageunit.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the DTF container isinstantiated on an information handling system operatively connected tothe system control processor manager.
 7. The system of claim 6, whereinthe information handling system is a second composed informationhandling system.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the informationhandling system comprises a second DTF container, wherein the second DTFcontainer is allocated to a second composed information handling system.9. A method for providing computer implemented services usinginformation handling systems, comprising: identifying a hardwareresource requirement in a composition request for a composed informationhandling system, wherein the hardware resource requirement specifies ahardware resource with data transformation functionality (DTF);identifying a hardware resource that does not have the DTF; connectingthe hardware resource to a DTF container, wherein the DTF containerimplements the DTF and emulates the hardware resource with DTF; andinitiating composition of the composed information handling system usingthe DTF container, wherein the DTF container satisfies the hardwareresource requirement.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the hardwareresource is a storage unit.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the DTFis compression.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the DTF isencryption.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein data generated by thecomposed information handling system is processed by the DTF containerto obtain processed data, wherein the processed data is stored in thestorage unit.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the DTF container isinstantiated on an information handling system operatively connected tothe system control processor manager.
 15. The method of claim 14,wherein the information handling system is a second composed informationhandling system.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the informationhandling system comprises a second DTF container, wherein the second DTFcontainer is allocated to a second composed information handling system.17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computerreadable program code, which when executed by a computer processorenables the computer processor to perform a method for providingcomputer implemented services using information handling systems, themethod comprising: identifying a hardware resource requirement in acomposition request for a composed information handling system, whereinthe hardware resource requirement specifies a hardware resource withdata transformation functionality (DTF); identifying a hardware resourcethat does not have the DTF, the hardware resource that does not have theDTF is a storage unit; connecting the hardware resource to a DTFcontainer, wherein the DTF container implements the DTF and emulates thestorage unit with DTF; and initiating composition of the composedinformation handling system using the DTF container, wherein the DTFcontainer satisfies the hardware resource requirement.
 18. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the DTF iscompression
 19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17,wherein the DTF is encryption.
 20. The non-transitory computer readablemedium of claim 17, wherein data generated by the composed informationhandling system is processed by the DTF container to obtain processeddata, wherein the processed data is stored in the storage unit.